Interviewed by Barb!

1. WooHoo! You have just published a bestseller. What is its title (and what is it about)?

My first instinct is to say my book is: True Confessions: Lives and Loves of Parish Pastor. Because, they say, write what you know. And of course the book would be totally fictional, but something to counteract the Jan Karon Mitford stories. Because you know, the small town I lived in was Not like Mitford.

My second idea would be a memoir called Scout Is Not a Bad Dog. I don't think I need to say any more about that one. I was thinking, pet memoirs are hot right now.

Third, (and I don't have a title for this one) I would love to write a Christian book that would get really popular like The Purpose-Driven Life, but with better theology. 40 daily kicks in the butt, or 40 daily stories that make us realize that God Is Our Only Hope. What do you think?

2. What is your favorite restaurant in the Twin Cities, and why do you love it?

It will tell you something about my taste in restaurants to reveal that I miss the old Forum Cafeteria, in downtown Minneapolis, the place where, as a little girl, I could carry my own tray and have any color jello I wanted. And it had the most marvelous Art Deco architecture. They were going to tear it down, but they did save some of the inside. But now it's a real lah-di-dah expensive restaurant, and I've never been there.

Truthfully, our favorite restaurant is a place called The Good Earth. It's a kind of pseudo-healthy, organic place, and it's been around the Twin Cities about since I graduated from college. And it's not too expensive. If you come and visit, I could take you to some other, hipper places: St. Martin's Table (books and a healthy lunch), Convention Grill (50s style, burgers and other really unhealthy comfort food), Mickey's Diner (hard to explain). But The Good Earth is our favorite place because 1) most waits under an hour; 2) Husband likes the planetburger; 3) free fresh bread; 4) Good Earth tea!

3. What was the most challenging thing about serving small churches in rural South Dakota?

It wasn't the lack of money. I didn't really feel that there were a lot of expensive things I wanted to do if only we had more money. I think it was that there were three churches. Each church really did have its own distinctive personality. They had many things in common, but they were all different too, and they didn't require the same things. And, I needed to always be careful not to show favoritism.

Also, although the people were very friendly and welcoming, sometimes it was lonely. And, there are many more funerals than baptisms there, so I couldn't measure ministry "success" in terms of numbers.

4. What was your proudest accomplishment back in high school?

I was kind of a late blooomer, so in high school I played bit parts in the school plays, and sang in the choir, but never a solo. But I was on the school literary magazine in my senior year of high school, and I got three pieces published; one, I remember, was a story called The Writer's Eye.

1st runner up: the day my Comparative Religion teacher read a piece I had written aloud to the class. I was gone that day, so the next day all of my classmates were showing me new-found respect! (It was a "creation myth": everyone had to write one.)

5. If you had a time machine, where (and what time period) would you go?

This was hard! I love studying history, but do I really want to go there? (I keep thinking about things like Shakespearean England, but what about the lack of indoor plumbing, etc?) So... what I really come down to, is the 1930's. I'd like to go back to the era of screwball comedies, union organizing, Clark Gable and Gary Cooper and Cary Grant, the Thin Man... yeah, I know it's not reality, it was really the Great Depression, but I'd like to visit it for a little while.

Now, I have to post these 'rules':

1. If you are interested in being interviewed, leave me a comment saying, 'interview me.'
2. I will resond by posting five questions for you. I get to pick the questions.
3. You will update your blog with a post containing your answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.

5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.